Religious History

1853 Baptist pioneer missionary J. Hudson Taylor, 21, set sail from England to China. In 1865, Taylor founded the China Inland Mission, now known as Overseas Missionary Fellowship. Its U.S. branch is HQ'd today in Robesonia, PA.
1938 The Carpatho-Russian Diocese of the Eastern Rite of the U.S.A. was canonized as a diocese of the Greek Orthodox Church. Father Orestes Chornock, Orthodox bishop of Agathonikia, was made Metropolitan of the new diocese.
1943 The first Baptist church was organized in Anchorage. (Prior to this date, there had been no Baptist church in Anchorage, and only one Baptist church in all the rest of the state of Alaska.)
1948 American missionary and martyr Jim Elliot wrote in his journal: 'Father, make of me a "crisis man." Make of me a fork, so that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.'
1971 Death of William F. Albright, 80, American Methodist archaeologist. Professor of Semitic languages at Johns Hopkins for nearly 30 years, he penned over 1,000 articles and books, and led several Near Eastern expeditions which excavated the biblical sites of Gibeah, Bethel and Petra.